"I see... So Sue is all right, then."
"Yeah... Aside from being dead on her feet from exhaustion, she was perfectly fine. Seems like a lot of things hit her hard, but she just shrugged it all off saying 'it was good Experience' like it was nothing."
"Oh my... That does sound like Sue-chan."
The place was Shakky's Rip-off Bar, on Sabaody Archipelago.
At the counter, two men were sharing drinks.
Both had already entered their twilight years, but anyone who knew their true identities would have trembled at the sight. These were titans of the sea.
Back in their active days, they had been mutual "archenemies," Roger included. Rayleigh and Shiki were nursing their drinks alongside simple snacks and talk of the recent war.
Beside them, despite no one sitting there, two glasses of alcohol had been set out.
Each glass contained something different, but both held the favored drink of a former friend. Or enemy.
Shiki glanced at one of those glasses, remembered 'he was a man who liked cheap booze,' and spoke.
"Your people've been looking after Sue, so... I figured I oughta at least let you know how she's doing. Though I'm guessing you already knew she was safe, seeing as her rampaging all over the place got broadcast live all the way here to Sabaody."
"Even so, hearing it directly puts the mind at ease. Thank you, Shiki."
"Jihahahaha... Don't mention it. Truth is, I just stopped by on a whim anyway."
"You, who used to be all sharp edges... You've really mellowed out. Here you go."
"Oh, thanks, Shakuyaku. You think so? Well, maybe a little..."
He replied as the bar's owner, Shakuyaku, brought over more snacks.
Both Rayleigh and Shakuyaku had been genuinely shocked a few years ago when Sue had come out to them about her origins, a truth even Sue herself hadn't known until then: that she was the daughter of Shiki the Golden Lion.
Since they knew the man well, in both good and bad ways, they had simultaneously felt relief that 'she didn't take after her father.'
Right after that, Shiki, who had actually tagged along and been hiding nearby, had burst out with 'What's that supposed to mean, you bastards?' But even then, they remembered noticing that some of the venom had already been drawn out of him compared to the Golden Lion they once knew.
They had continued their relationship with Sue as before, and through that connection, they'd even started occasionally sharing drinks with Shiki like this. Life was a funny thing.
"That aside, Shiki... You're scheming something again, aren't you?"
"! Jihahahaha... You can tell, huh."
"Yes... Though it wasn't me but Shakuyaku who gathered the intelligence. It's merely my deduction based on that. But apparently, certain circles are already trembling. That the Golden Lion has made his move."
"I'm afraid I ain't the type to spend my retirement sitting around with nothing stirring. The plan I spent twenty years cooking up needs some adjustments now, but..."
"Painful words for a Recluse to hear. I trust it'll be fine, but... don't do anything that would cause trouble for Sue, all right? Don't come crying to me if she washes her hands of you."
"I know, I know. I plan to handle it in a way that satisfies her too. And I won't cause any trouble for you folks either, so relax... Well then, I should get going. Shakuyaku, the bill please."
"Of course, thank you for your patronage. Here's the check."
"Right, anyway, from here on out it's actually... Hey, this is expensive! Shakuyaku, didn't you get the digits wrong here!? And there's stuff on here I never ordered!"
"My, how rude. There's nothing wrong with it at all... See, it's right here."
"That's the one you drank! Fine, I'll let Roger's and Newgate's slide, but... What kind of bar is this!? ...Oh right, that kind of bar."
"Ufufu, exactly. Thank you, come again."
"Well then... I suppose I'll be heading out too. Sorry, Shakuyaku, I'll be away from home for a while again."
"Huh? You going somewhere too?"
"Yes... There's a man I need to go see and talk to. For his sake... and for what lies ahead."
☆☆☆
[Sue's Perspective]
"Kuwahahaha!! It's been a while, Sue, good to see you again!"
"Sure has, Morgans. Man, I'm just glad we could meet like this again... After the number of times I thought I was gonna die these past few weeks, I really mean it."
This was one of the islands in the Golden Lion Pirates' territory.
My body had recovered to a decent degree, enough that moving around normally wasn't a problem anymore, so I'd come to my long-postponed meeting with Morgans.
As expected, the president himself had come for the interview.
"A battle with Admiral Akainu, imprisonment in Impel Down, the subsequent great jailbreak, participation in the Summit War... The fact that you came back safely from all of that just proves you've got something special! I'm sure you gained plenty of stimulating Experience... I can't wait to see what masterpiece comes out of it!"
"Ahaha... Well, in due time. Oh, and sorry, Morgans, I totally blew past the manuscript deadline we'd set before I went into Impel Down. I couldn't exactly write novels or deliver them from inside a prison, you know."
"Don't worry about it, Sue. I already handled that matter. I'd heard the circumstances through Tesoro-shi. Besides... at the time, we were up to our necks preparing for coverage of Fire Fist Ace's execution, the practically certain Summit War, and all the associated special features and articles, so it actually worked out in the end. ...What I'd rather complain about is you hiding your background from me."
"Background, you mean... The Golden Lion's daughter thing? I mean, yeah, sorry about that, but... You'd have turned it into an article in some form, one hundred percent. It just wasn't the right time for that yet."
Just as I'm a writer who can't resist putting ideas to paper, this man is someone who can't resist broadcasting any news that comes his way.
Exceptions existed, but not many. His whole reason for living was revealing unknown truths to the world and making jaws drop. I couldn't let him find out.
Depending on the circumstances, sure, but he wasn't the kind of man you could ask to keep quiet and trust that he would. We'd known each other long enough for me to be sure of that.
"Well, I understand the logic, and I'm sure Lord Golden Lion had his own reasons... But even so, to think a seed of a Scoop was right in front of me and I didn't notice... It's mortifying as a newsman. Make it up to me going forward, Sue."
"Of course. Likewise, I'm counting on you."
After that, I sat through a thorough interview session.
For Morgans, the chance to interview someone who'd witnessed firsthand both the inner workings of Impel Down, a place the media almost never reached, and the Summit War, the great incident that had captured the world's attention, was something he'd been eagerly awaiting. He dug into every last detail.
Impel Down especially. Until now, there had been virtually zero opportunities to learn what went on inside. After all, before Papa, no one had ever successfully escaped.
As for the Summit War, even though it had been broadcast via Den Den Mushi, the crossed signal meant the footage and audio were unstable and kept shifting perspectives, leaving plenty of gaps in what people could piece together.
That's exactly why he wanted the raw testimony of someone who'd actually been on the battlefield.
"Kuwahahaha... I feel like I've struck gold with just this hour of interviewing, Sue. Especially the information about Impel Down. There's a chance it'll become impossible to obtain going forward, no matter what. I'm glad I could get such detailed information while it's still fresh."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"From what I've heard... Between your jailbreak and Blackbeard liberating a huge number of dangerous prisoners, the damage was apparently severe. It's questionable whether they can even repair and reopen the place, so there's apparently even a proposal to simply abandon it. You hadn't heard?"
"Seriously!? No, I had no idea..."
I was genuinely surprised. So that's what things had come to over there?
Well, I guess it wasn't that strange, thinking about it. We did go pretty wild, trashed the facilities and personnel, and stripped the place of supplies and weapons.
Seastone Bullets, various Seastone items, rare armaments. We took it all. It's all sitting in the armory at our Hideout in Merveille right now.
I'd been locked up, tortured, put through pain and suffering and humiliation, so I'd repaid it a hundredfold without an ounce of mercy.
During the big riot, everyone was fired up beyond belief, so they were all the same way.
And when you consider the facility's purpose of keeping dangerous criminals locked away, slapdash emergency repairs just wouldn't cut it. It's not like patching a hole in your wall with a thin board and calling the draft fixed. Completely different scale.
To do repairs that actually met the necessary standard, the materials, money, labor, and technical expertise required would be staggering.
On top of that, with so many prisoners having escaped and the place hollowed out...
"Yeah, I guess it would be beyond repair at that point... But then, what do I do about this?"
"Hm? Something the matter, Sue?"
In front of the puzzled Morgans, I produced something from inside my body.
It was a manuscript I'd been planning to hand to Morgans today, with a 'What do you think of this?'
As usual, it was something I'd written on a 'hey, this sounds fun' impulse.
But even though I'd dashed it off in a short time, I'd done quite serious research for it, gathering information and firsthand accounts, carefully developing and refining the content. A pretty solid piece of work, if I do say so myself.
For that research, the Impel Down prisoners who'd come along with me had been invaluable. Fortunately, I'd had a complete set: men and women from every floor.
I explained all this while handing the manuscript over to Morgans.
After reading through it in silence for a while, Morgans wordlessly pulled out a Den Den Mushi, dialed somewhere, and...
"Hey, it's me! Eddie, we've got work! Yeah, it's Sue's new book. Assemble a team immediately and set up an editorial meeting. When? The second I'm back at headquarters! Have everyone on standby so we can start the moment I walk in!"
Whoa... That's some serious enthusiasm.
Glad he liked it that much. Made me happy, honestly.
And the person on the other end of that call, Eddie-chan. According to Morgans, since Eddie was connected to me, there was a risk of him becoming a target for people with ill intentions, Government Officials included, so Morgans was currently sheltering him by keeping him confined to headquarters for work. I was grateful.
Apparently Eddie had really wanted to come along for my interview too, but...
I could hear 'Wait, please, I want to talk too! At least just one wo' from the other end before Morgans hung up.
Um... Next time for sure, okay?
"Kuwahahaha!! Sorry about that, Sue. Now, about this manuscript. I absolutely want to publish it through our company! A work this unprecedented and provocative? I have nothing but a premonition of a mega-hit!"
"Shouldn't you have had that conversation before making the call? Well, sure, of course that's fine. But... I know I'm the one who wrote it, but are you really sure it's okay to publish? Like you just said yourself... It may have a comedic style, but the content's pretty dicey. It's a 'provocative work' for sure..."
"Absolutely no problem! Even if there were problems, no problem!"
Was it just me, or did those words not quite make sense?
Well, it was Morgans. Par for the course.
"Things are about to get busy... We need to get it out and distributed before the Government catches wind and tries to stop us! I'll get the printing presses running on emergency operation too... Right, let's aim for release within two weeks!"
"That fast!? Wait, from planning through proofreading to release in two weeks... Are you serious!?"
"Of course I am! Don't underestimate Big News Morgans! When I get serious, information and books alike race across the world at top speed, front and back! Look forward to two weeks from now, Sue. Let's make the world's jaw drop... Kuwahahaha!!"
☆☆☆
Two weeks later.
Morgans actually pulled it off. Got a new book out in two weeks...
As always, it was selling like wildfire, flying off the shelves everywhere.
Right after release, an immediate reprint was ordered.
Title: I Was in Impel Down, Ask Me Anything
What it described was the inner workings of Impel Down, a place long spoken of in fearful tones yet shrouded in mystery.
The comedic touch meant various details were left vague, and the more gruesome or dark aspects were softened considerably. Even so, the content was plenty stimulating, and it scored a massive hit.
Much of it was drawn from direct interviews with actual prisoners (now escaped convicts), and the author herself had been an inmate, so the vividness was spot-on.
The general public who read it were shocked, entertained... Meanwhile, Marine and Government Officials apparently tore their hair out. Or didn't. Maybe.
Oh, but even Marines, the rank-and-file soldiers and such, apparently read it with genuine interest. They'd never had any opportunity to learn about this stuff either, after all.
Also, through this publication, it was good to learn that my popularity as the Pirate Literary Master hadn't declined.
At the same time, it was unexpected. It surprised me.
I'd braced myself for the worst, figuring that after rampaging so wildly against the Marines, fans would surely distance themselves. But it turned out many people had actually enjoyed the spectacle, and the majority, just like fifteen years ago, were able to separate things: 'that's that, this is this,' keeping me the writer apart from the rest.
On top of that, the Marines had executed their controversial strategy of impersonating Whitebeard Pirates allies to sow discord right before all this, which helped fuel opinions like 'honestly, good on her.'
...Also, Akainu. He was a reassuring force of Justice, sure, but his extreme methods had earned him plenty of resentment from various quarters, and there was apparently a backlash element at play too.
And as for the outlaw side of things... my fanbase grew massively.
Letters poured in saying how refreshing it was that someone stuck it to the Marines, or thanking me for taking down that mad dog of Justice, or telling me their imprisoned family member had come home. Some of the content was, well, hard to know how to respond to, but there was a whole variety. Everyone had been carrying their own burdens.
Ahh, it felt great to get all that off my chest and turn it into comedy material.
Oh, and two more things. Two developments had occurred during these two weeks.
The first was that Luffy had sent his '3D2Y' message to his crewmates.
In this world, Ace hadn't died, but even so, as a sort of tribute to the many who had fallen in this war, Luffy appeared at Marineford the same way, causing a commotion with Rayleigh and Jinbe.
The newspaper showed Luffy standing solemnly in tribute. Hmm... It didn't suit him.
And on his arm, the tattoo (or what appeared to be one).
With Jinbe present, the act could easily be taken at face value as a tribute to Whitebeard. But in some circles, it was being interpreted as 'a vow of self-reproach and determination from someone who was protected and sent away by his brother and the Pirate Literary Master, unable to do anything himself.' ...Why does this keep splashing back on me?
The motive was beside the point anyway. For Luffy, the whole purpose was to get photographed and broadcast the message to the world.
In any case, this meant the Straw Hat Pirates were entering their training arc for the time being.
After this, Luffy would head to Rusukaina Island near Amazon Lily to train against the wilds of nature, aiming to master Haki.
And then, the other development.
Three weeks after the Summit War.
The Marines' wounds were still deep and far from healed, but credit where it was due, they moved fast in this particular area. They undertook a thorough public update on the danger levels of the pirates who had rampaged in the war.
That's right... Updated Wanted Posters.
WANTED!
Name: Straw Hat Luffy
Bounty: 400,000,000 Berry
Name: Knight of the Sea Jinbe
Bounty: 438,000,000 Berry
These two were the same as in the Original Work... I think. Probably. My memory of Jinbe's exact amount was a little fuzzy.
Various other prominent pirates and those who had distinguished themselves in the battle were also listed with raised bounties, or newly wanted.
But there was no Wanted Poster for Buggy. ...Maybe the Shichibukai invitation was already in the works.
And now, for the ones relevant to us...
Name: Ghost of the Foggy Sea Blume
Bounty: 330,000,000 Berry
Name: Chef of the Winter Sky Beauty
Bounty: 170,000,000 Berry
"My... That's quite a sum they've put on us."
"The Impel Down jailbreak is probably factored in too... Good grief."
That was the reaction from the two who'd come with me.
Blume's being nearly double was probably because she was a Logia Ability User.
And on top of that, to my surprise...
Name: Myriad Colors Alice
Bounty: 249,000,000 Berry
Name: Turbid Current Suzu
Bounty: 233,000,000 Berry
Name: Dancing Iron Fist Yuri
Bounty: 300,000,000 Berry
Name: Laughing Wolf Lupusregina
Bounty: 300,000,000 Berry
"Ooh! Yay, look at this! I'm a Bounty Target too! Isn't this pretty impressive for a first-time bounty?"
"Hmm... Lost to Alice by a hair. Must be the difference in battle results."
"Ahhahaha! Seriously? We're wanted criminals now too! Man, it's kinda ticklish knowing these are circulating all over the world. Maybe I should've done my makeup better."
"Is this really the time for that, Lupus? Sigh... From now on, the two of us may find it harder to move openly. Not that I have any complaints about having fought for our Lady and the others."
Posters for both daughters and even two from the Maid Squad. Unexpected.
Well, no need to think too hard about why. They'd gone wild in the Summit War.
Suzu had clogged the Encircling Wall's cannons with mud to disable them, then swept away Marines with massive waves of mud, and apparently cut loose with her prized swordsmanship too.
On top of that, like Blume, she was also a Logia Ability User, so that alone would make her seem dangerous. Against anyone who wasn't a Haki User, she was invincible.
Alice had used her Powers to incapacitate numerous Pacifista, and then put on a spectacular show against the Marines who came after her once they recognized the threat she posed.
She'd turn the tables, seize their weapons, use those weapons to fight and turn the tables again, over and over, displaying an ever-shifting fighting style. Very Alice, the all-rounder.
That fighting style was probably the origin of the name 'Myriad Colors,' but for those of us who knew this girl's personality, a rather different meaning came to mind...
And the two from the Maid Squad had bounties higher than both daughters.
Well, that was probably because they'd fought using Haki.
If anything, it was the two daughters who were impressive (?) for reaching these amounts without Haki.
Incidentally,
"How come I don't have one!? Suzu and Alice getting them and not me, that's so unfair!"
Leona, well... She was fuming and throwing a fit over being the only one of the three daughters without a Wanted Poster.
During the war, she'd been on standby as rear support and reserve, and apparently never really got her turn. So she didn't attract attention.
And then... there was this.
I know it's a bit much to say about myself, but the Wanted Posters for the two people who had been the very eye of the storm in this war... were as follows.
Name: Fire Fist Ace
Bounty: 1,100,000,000 Berry
Name: Pirate Literary Master Sue
Bounty: 1,087,400,000 Berry
...That was an absurd amount. Not just Over 100 Million Berry, but over a billion...
My original bounty was 76,000,000. Two whole digits different. How many times over was that in one jump?
A billion. I'd never even seen a bounty that high in the One Piece Original Work...
Maybe amounts like this appeared after the Dressrosa Arc, and there were obviously plenty of people whose bounties were clearly higher but hadn't been revealed in the Original Work.
After my Reincarnation, I'd looked into it and learned that Whitebeard was over 5 billion, Roger was 5.5 billion... All the Four Emperors-level figures were over 4 billion across the board. The inflation was insane.
Ace's original bounty had been 550,000,000, so this was exactly double.
Between the bloodline of being the Pirate King's son and the 'achievement' of having dealt the finishing blow to Akainu, that was probably how they'd arrived at the figure. ...The fact that it was exactly one-fifth of Roger's, was that some kind of irony? Or coincidence?
Combined with the feat of defeating a Marine Admiral, from the pirates' perspective, he was loaded with elements that could make him a rallying banner. He'd become an even more dangerous figure than before.
The fact that his name was still 'Portgas' bothered me a little... Wouldn't it have made sense to change it to 'Gold Ace' or 'Gold D. Ace' or something?
Setting aside the fact that they couldn't, or chose not to, use the name 'Gol D.' (I didn't know the reason).
And the same applied to me.
On top of the deeply unwelcome assessment of my Incitement Ability, they'd apparently tacked on my contribution to defeating Akainu to arrive at this figure. Oh, and I'd also cut down Magellan and dealt the decisive blow to Impel Down's collapse... So that was probably factored in too.
Good grief... Who knew what lay ahead.
To be continued...